Chase Jarvis Blog » Inspirationhttp://blog.chasejarvis.com/blog
Wed, 08 Jul 2015 18:46:08 +0000en-UShourly1http://wordpress.org/?v=4.1.1First Hands on with MIMIC — It’s a Game Changer [ Plus Score a Free MIMIC + MOVI Package ]http://blog.chasejarvis.com/blog/2015/04/mimic-launch-and-movi/
http://blog.chasejarvis.com/blog/2015/04/mimic-launch-and-movi/#commentsSun, 12 Apr 2015 22:53:36 +0000http://blog.chasejarvis.com/blog/?p=29296Today I’m excited to be the first to share with you a piece of game-changing technology that will help new AND established cinema / video camera operators capture world class moving pictures in the most intuitive, simple way that I’ve ever imagined. And if you read to the bottom of this post, you’ll see I’m giving you a chance to win this gear valued at ~$5000.

Over my career in the photo & film industries I’ve had the good fortune to collaborate behind-the-scenes with many of the brightest minds, top brands and most innovative products. Among those I count experiences with Apple on iPhone and other products, with Nikon on the world’s very first video DSLR (D90), Ustream and now Meerkat and Periscope on live internet broadcasting and…well…drones, software, computers, etc…game changers that completely re-defined entire industries and — most importantly from my perspective — they share the common thread of having led to the democratization of creativity.

Today marks the public debut of yet another one of those ‘pinch yourself’ highlights…the opportunity to collaborate on MIMIC. What pray tell is MIMIC you ask? Well i’ll give you this tidbit first, and then let you watch for yourself…

MIMIC represents a completely intuitive and organic way to control a cinema / video camera remotely… NOT the camera settings…but what the camera actually sees and records. You’re familiar with the concept of a steady cam, right? Well consider that with this product you can now operate a stabilized camera remotely, right from your director’s chair with a simple-to-use device that track your movements and translate them into smooth, precise camera moves.

The genius minds behind MIMIC are Freefly Systems… the same minds that more than 6 years ago I was hiring to fly custom, camera-carrying drone helicopters. The same people who 2 years ago created the MOVI system – a handheld digital stabilized camera gimbal, so advanced, it completely redefined camera stabilization.

MIMIC is their newest breakthrough product and it’s launching tomorrow at NAB. But you got to see it here first.

MIMIC controller on the left, pictured with MOVI on the right. Game-changing combo.

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So why is MIMIC so revolutionary? In short MIMIC fills in a previously-huge gap in cinema. Where the MOVI brought camera stabilization out of Hollywood and delivered it to the masses…MIMIC now allows expert users, intermediate users and — even people with even the most limited camera experience — to “drive” the camera in the very most intuitive way imaginable and get the shots you want. See for yourself what these 5 year olds can do on their first time using this device…

SO.. If you are a newbie and combine MIMIC with MOVI, you will get better shots than with nearly any other camera stabilization + composition system on the planet the first day you use it. If you are an intermediate operator or director you will get insanely high quality shots within minutes of first use. And if you’re an expert operator you will be catapulted into the stratosphere and the only thing holding you back will be your DNA’s urge to hold onto the past ways of thinking about camera movement and stabilization. [ Win this amazing combo below…]

MIMIC allows you to remotely frame up any shot.

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MIMIC explained in a single photo. Blurry blob on the right is my camera operator and the green blob on the left is my model

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The MIMIC configuration pictured here (monitor, handles and sensor) in these videos is just but one configuration…. the sort of “steering wheel” style where the pilot remotely drives the camera gimbal like a video driving- or flying-game… Imagine if you will another configuration I also was able to use in preparation for this launch… one where I was able to pilot the camera with a set of VR-like glasses. YES I’M DEAD SERIOUS. Just sitting there in my directors chair I was able to control the camera w being held by my operating counterpart simply by moving my head in space left, right, up and down in space. I could see exactly what the camera was seeing and was able to steer the camera with nearly flawless precision by simply looking at the feature in the scene I wanted to see. Anywhere I looked, the remote camera (held by my camera op counterpart) would track exactly to that framing. Wow. This truly is the future.

SSSOOOOOOOOOO…. It’s with all that in mind that we are kicking off a contest/sweepstakes TODAY. Yours truly + CreativeLive and Freefly Systems are making it possible for one winner to take home an insane gear package.. That winner could be you.

WHAT THE WINNER GETS.

1. MIMIC controller system. This is the new hotness – the device that represents a completely intuitive and organic way to control the camera. Sophisticated sensors track your movements and translate them into smooth, precise camera moves. (Link coming – its so new it’s not yet on the Freefly systems website!)

2. MOVI m5. This is the digital 3-axis, gyro stabilized handheld camera stabilizer that transformed camera movement over the past 2 years We are including the M5 in a bundle with a bunch of other tasty gear, pelican case etc etc. Check it here.

3. Personal lesson from Yours Truly and the gurus at Freefly systems. If the winner is close-ish to us here in the USA, we’ll come to your place. And if you live far away, we’ll do a 60 minute Skype, Google Hangout or phone call with you. We can talk about whatever you want to discuss about the MIMIC and MOVI – whatever would be helpful, be it tricks and tips or just inspirational ideation for how to get some insane shots with your new toy!

SO, HOW DO YOU WIN?

To help wrangle this giveaway, we’re going back to our favorite widget below. It does a few things really well:
1. manages all entries into a secure database and properly randomizes a winner
2. gives you info about how much time is left in the giveaway / how many entries there are etc
3. allows you to earn extra entries by participating more deeply in the community (tweeting, sharing, reading posts etc)

To enter just fill in your info below and follow along. And note: this giveaway is live TODAY all the way through the 12th of May. Winner will be announced on May 13th via the @CreativeLive@ChaseJarvis + @FreeflyCinema social feeds. Good luck to you!

Thanks for tuning in. This will be raging on all this week at NAB show in Vegas, so keep an eye out for more news here on this post and elsewhere in my digital landscape. HUGE shoutout to the crew at Freefly for continuing to push the boundaries of what’s possible and for leading the charge in the further democratization of video + filmmaking. Questions / comments? Hit me up in the comments or on social as usual.

One thing that never gets old for me is the adventure of location photography. I thrive on the travel and escaping from one’s day-to-day, the challenges that Mother Nature conjures up and deploys on you at a whim, and the camaraderie of a crew – be it large or small – united on a mission in search of a stunning photo or two.

Now combine that “one thing that never gets old” with another – the stunning country that is New Zealand. This is perhaps the mother of all location shooting – there’s a reason that Peter Jackson chooses this backdrop for all the fantasy films he makes. It looks like a goddamn made up place. One where you’d expect unicorns and rainbows – and that’s basically what you get.

But in truth, it’s mind boggling not just because of the landscape, but also because of the earnest, heartfelt people, the can-do culture, the close proximity of insane geographic diversity, the food, the heritage and..well, so many things.

So in taking those two things together – the adventure of location-based adventure photography, and the stunning location that is NZ – THIS was my privilege last week on my latest photo assignment. And while you’ve seen NZ vids from me before like this one and this other one and others like this in posts from the past, this trip was just a little different

While I confess we had many of the requisite over-the-top accoutrements to our shoot (a few yachts, a helicopter, some strikingly beautiful people and a few characters to match), this trip – now my 10th or 11th to this paradise – marked a heartfelt return to some of NZed’s most classic locations as well as some of my favorite local flavor.

Because this was for a client, I can’t yet unwind the campaign images on you here. But I can share 23 of my fav iPhone snaps from along the road over the past seven days. Enjoy and hit me with questions or comments – and keep your eyes peeled for more. I’ll be dropping some videos and such over the coming weeks.

Classic Milford Sound. We arrived on location just as the sun was setting. A crushingly epic view of the Fiordlands. Managed to grab a snap with my phone just a moment before it got dark – hard to take a bad photo in that spot…

Of course we managed a timelapse of those very sexy clouds. Standby for viewing this footage soon

View from our condo in Queenstown. Those remarkable peaks in the background are The Remarkables. Photographed here too.

More Remarkables from the lake at another one of our locations.

And another snap from the lake, this one featuring a friend’s yacht….previously owned by none other than Winston Churchill. Rumor has it the UK government tried to by it from our pal a while back…and he obviously said “nah”.

Need an amazing producer in New Zealand? Call Phil Turner. Simply the best I know. Scott and I trying to simultaneously radio for help AND hug him for the fresh location we found…

One needs lots of coffee when working 16 hour days. This is a classic NZ cappuccino, but for the record, you know the new rage at Starbucks…the “flat white”? That’s a kiwi tradition been around for ages.

Queenstown coffee shop hours.

Great food is a must when on the road. And I’ll be damned if this is not the sexiest burger I’ve seen. Compliments of Cafe Vudu in Queenstown.

Here’s Scotty getting after a few juices at the newly-opened restaurant at the Sherwood Manor hotel…strong reference from the Ace in both Palm Springs and NYC if you know what I mean. Beetroot juice in one mug and something hella green in the other. We often play the game “try to look tough whilst drinking from a straw.”

Juice shot from a helicopter.

Early rise one morning in Queenstown… Must get to our location before sunup. Always stunning shit happening with the clouds down here. Unreal. This is literally #nofilter, just a snapshot from the road before we piled in the car.

The famous Shotover River canyon. Yes we shot here – with those sick-ass 700hp jet boats. It was a face-melter. Just check out the color of that water.

A short jaunt up to Auckland for one last shot we needed to get in the can. Here we are on the boats, waiting for the weather to clear – which it did.

The world’s best chocolate milk – compliments of NZ photog Brian Foose who tracked us down to say hi and was a big help with some location production needs.

Another gorgeous meal at the Depot on Federal Street in Auckland. Highly recommended. The oysters are sublime and the steak is close second. Have a classic cocktail if you imbibe.

And finally, as seen only in NZ. The most unusual toilet instructions I’ve seen in quite some time.

Thanks for indulging in these 23 behind-the-scenes shots that aren’t cameras, settings, model posing, and Photoshop. All that is available in some tutorial somewhere – what’s not is knowing that a great part of being able to make an amazing photo is being an amazing headspace. Do what you can to get there. and hopefully this helps you understand a little more about that end of things.

Until next time.

]]>http://blog.chasejarvis.com/blog/2015/03/on-location-new-zealand-photography/feed/236 Books Guaranteed to Make You More Creativehttp://blog.chasejarvis.com/blog/2015/03/books-to-make-you-more-creative/
http://blog.chasejarvis.com/blog/2015/03/books-to-make-you-more-creative/#commentsWed, 04 Mar 2015 13:59:13 +0000http://blog.chasejarvis.com/blog/?p=29177One of the most common misconceptions I come across is the belief that once you’ve somehow “made it,” I / one / you don’t hit ruts, bumps, run into blocks, or otherwise get paralyzed by the creative work that needs doing.

In fact, nothing could be further from the truth. I get thrown for a loop all the time.

I’ve found myself off my game at numerous times in my career, getting lost for a bit and struggling to re-capture the clarity that comes with great creative vision, intent, and very hard work. And the same is true of so many of my friends who are at the top of their creative games, respectively. We all get bit by the occasional creative funk. The difference between those of us who sink and those who swim?

Action.

So what do I do when that happens?

First, I acknowledge that my moon is waning and, as I mentioned above, I take decisive action. Sometimes it takes a week or even a month to realize the creative hole, but once I do, I know it’s time to act.

Second, I find some space. I need room for step 3. And what is step 3?

Third, I read. Yep. I pick up the books that I’ve read before but that continue to inspire me and remind me that creativity is a process, an activity, a mode of operating — and not divinity. It’s not luck. It’s not wisdom. It’s work. And it’s this headspace that helps kick me back into the spirit of reading. They create adventures in my mind that turn into adventures in making, being, doing.

So….The following is THE list of books that I turn to on the regular to escape these scary dark places when my (lying) mind takes over and tells us me I suck. Or tells me that I’m lucky to be here. Or tells me that I’m fooling everyone and that my once sunny is sinking into the abyss as we speak. The voices in my head are, I know, really just bullshit — but this list of 6 books is anything but that.

The Creative Habit; Twyla Tharp
Creativity is not a character trait, or something divined by the powers that be – it’s the combination of effort and desire. It is a process. And I promise you this is true. Tharp paints a clear-headed portrait that matches my direct experience where creativity is within everyone’s reach.

The War of Art: Break Through Blocks and Win Your Inner Creative Battles; Steven Pressfield
One of the best books on creativity ever written. If this doesn’t get you fighting for your inner creativity…well then…you probably didn’t read it. If you’re like…damn near everyone on the planet…and feel that annoying resistance from your inner critic, this book is medicine. Hush those demons, hurdle those roadblocks. This is tough love that will help you tap into your true creative potential.

Creativity, Inc.: Overcoming the Unseen Forces That Stand in the Way of True Inspiration; Ed Catmull and Amy Wallace
This book is a treat that sits at the intersection of creativity and commerce. From the co-founder of Pixar, Catmull gives us unique insights into removing the blockers that harm creativity from within companies and organizations. I read this after taking over as CEO of CreativeLive, as it helps me cultivate creativity at CL – an organization of now more than 100 people. It’s an insanely practical book that challenges the “typical” work environment and teaches us to replace it with an environment that unlocks ideation and innovation. If you lead a team – in your own company or another – this book is gold.

Art & Fear: Observations on the Perils (And Reward) of Artmaking; David Bales and Ted Orland
A book by artists for artists, this book gave me courage and helped my shut out those stupid voices in my head (yes – they’re in my head, too). An amazing reminder that great art is made by ordinary people like you and me. Think you don’t have a chance because you’re not Ansel Adams – think again. That’s just those trolls in your brain that have ZERO basis in reality. Beat them with ease. Win at making art.

Daring Greatly: How the Courage to be Vulnerable Transforms the Way We Live, Love, Parent, and Lead; Dr. Brené Brown
No single book has done more for pulling the curtains back on our culture of “never enough” and debunking myths around vulnerability. I’ve had author Brené Brown on chasejarvisLIVE before and, let me tell you, she comes correct. Creativity does not happen without vulnerability. The answers to you making better art are not “out there” in the universe, they’re “inside” you. And they need to come out. This isn’t some soft book that could be an after-school special. This book will kick your ass into putting more of you into your work and unlocking a whole new world.

Steal Like an Artist: 10 Things Nobody Told You About Being Creative; Austin Kleon
This is truly a manifesto for harnessing your creativity in the modern era and outlines the simple, recurring and well known position that stealing from one artist is stealing, but stealing from 1000 artists is called research or inspiration. Once you understand that truly nothing is original — that it’s all a remix of things gone by — you are freed to do what all the best artists from Picasso to Jay Z do… they cherry pick from their influences and add their twist. Austin was also a #cjLIVE guest – check it out.

Now pick up one or all of these freaking books. Personally, I like to read from the Kindle app on my iPad Mini so I can take all these books with me almost everywhere I go, but to each their own. Just DON’T do one thing: Don’t avoid this list. I promise these books will help you when things go creatively dark. Or grey. Or worse — annoyingly empty.

Break on through.

]]>http://blog.chasejarvis.com/blog/2015/03/books-to-make-you-more-creative/feed/27Comfort Is the Enemy of Purpose: How to Pursue Life-Changing Riskhttp://blog.chasejarvis.com/blog/2014/09/pursue-life-changing-risk-guillebeau-interview/
http://blog.chasejarvis.com/blog/2014/09/pursue-life-changing-risk-guillebeau-interview/#commentsThu, 25 Sep 2014 03:12:49 +0000http://blog.chasejarvis.com/blog/?p=29037There is no force as powerful as pursuit. It’s a gritty daily grind — but it’s the only way to find out what you’re capable of. Twenty years ago, I ditched medical school and bailed on a PhD in Philosophy to pursue my own calling to become a photographer. Amidst a bunch of head-scratching and doubt from my family and peers, I abandoned a known outcome to dedicate my life to making art. This quest woke me from a sleep state, and has since catapulted me into opportunities I never imagined existed.I test myself by doing, making and being, NOT by checking off boxes or collecting diplomas. By navigating my life in pursuit of my vision, I have – at the core – created my own trajectory.

Over the years, I’ve been lucky to befriend many fellow comrades in adventure — and there’s few if any more prolific than globetrotting entrepreneur Chris Guillebeau. Chris’s discipline and insight are a constant source of inspiration for me. His blog , The Art of Non Conformity is a part of my daily routine, his early books are continual energizers for me, and he’s even joined me on the #cjLIVE couch before.

Are you ready to be the hero of your own life? Then start by GRABBING CHRIS’ NEW BOOK HERE and then check out our Q&A below for a few actionable takeaways for finding your own life-defining quest.

Hello my friend! Congrats again. Please tell me and the good people here what inspired you to write this book? How did you know this was the next story you needed to tell?

I wanted to tell the story of real-life adventures and modern-day quests. I spent 10 years visiting every country in the world — but the best part was hearing the stories of other people who had also chosen to cultivate the value of adventure in their lives. I didn’t want to just write a memoir, in other words. I wanted to present an agenda: “a quest can improve your life, and here’s how you craft one.”

I love that term, “the value of adventure”. Is this a one-off idea, or are we having a cultural shift towards a new definition of happiness?

I think it’s fair to say that people are thinking differently about their lives. They’re understanding that with all the opportunities available to us, we should put our limited time and energy to good use. We should strive! We should live with urgency!

I’ve often gotten lost during my trajectory toward a goal. And looking back it has been because I’d poorly defined those goals. Your book cuts thru that nonsense (and the challenges that face most people) by making goals a “quest”. What defines a quest?

A quest has a beginning and an end. There’s something you work toward over time—and there are usually multiple stages or milestones along the way. Challenge is the essence of a good quest. It shouldn’t be that easy! Lastly, something unexpected usually happens along the way. You can’t help but be changed through the journey. A quest makes you a better person as you embrace the challenge and adapt to unexpected circumstances.

How do you begin to set “the right quest” – and even the right milestones for a quest — while also allowing room to learn from the unexpected?

You set a big, incredible goal that is also within the realm of possibility. It has to be hard but it has to be achievable. In my case, visiting every country in the world (193/193) was tough. It took ten years! But it wasn’t fundamentally impossible. I knew if I worked hard enough and found a way to overcome the various challenges, eventually I could see it through.

How do you recommend we build pursuit — be it of larger quests or smaller goals — into our everyday lives?

We can choose to live for something we believe in. We can spend our time on things we’re excited by *and* things that bother us. One of my favorite stories in the book comes from Oklahoma, where a young mother decided that she’d raise her family with an international perspective. She couldn’t visit every country in the world, but she decided to cook a meal from every country in the world. Over the three years that the project unfolded, her daughter grew up eating foods from all over and learning about life beyond her doorstep. Then other people started caring, following along with the recipes she posted online.

It became something much bigger than just a small project, even though it was something she could pursue from her home and without a lot of specialized skills.

Is a quest ever really over?

In some ways, yes. Every quest has a goal and a destination. It may be “all about the journey” but there *is* something you’re working toward that you’ll eventually reach. That’s why you should be prepared for the end!

That said, the act of “questing” itself is addictive. Once you go down the road of adventure, it’s hard to quit.

What’s your next quest?

For me, the next quest will be much more about community. I want to focus on serving people who are interested in living unconventional lives. I want to help them to form communities of their own and provide role models of others who’ve done remarkable things.

Ultimately, I think this kind of work will be far more valuable than visiting every country in the world. But I’m also grateful for the extended quest of traveling, because without it I wouldn’t have the community in the first place.

—

Well said, amigo… before I again recommend you pick up Chris’ book, I’ll leave you with one snippet that I’ve learned from Chris that’s different that all the other goal or quest-setting books out there.

According to Chris, here are the 5 key qualities of a quest:

A clear goal and a specific end point

A clear challenge

A sacrifice of some kind

A calling or sense of mission

A series of small steps and incremental progress toward the goal

The key for me is the sacrifice. What is achievement without sacrifice? In the case of becoming a photographer, I turned my back on becoming a pro soccer player, a doctor, or a professor. There’s gravity is admitting that to one’s self, and for me it was understanding in advance that I’d have to sacrifice that helped me get thru the hardest parts.

So what is your quest? What will you sacrifice to get what you want out of life? Pick up Chris’ book for some inspiration and clarity on how to do this for yourself. It will be the best $11 you could possibly spend to get yourself un-stuck and on to the next big chapter in your life.

#Love.

]]>http://blog.chasejarvis.com/blog/2014/09/pursue-life-changing-risk-guillebeau-interview/feed/77Let’s Hang Out! WIN a Meeting with Me + $500 in Camera Gear + all of CreativeLive Photo Week for Freehttp://blog.chasejarvis.com/blog/2014/09/win-a-meeting-with-chase-jarvis-500-from-adorama-free-education-from-creative-live/
http://blog.chasejarvis.com/blog/2014/09/win-a-meeting-with-chase-jarvis-500-from-adorama-free-education-from-creative-live/#commentsMon, 15 Sep 2014 20:20:18 +0000http://blog.chasejarvis.com/blog/?p=28992UPDATE: The contest has closed and we have a winner!Steve Groves has been randomly selected – and he scores the 1:1 with yours truly, $500 from Adorama and the entire PhotoWeek 2014 from CreativeLive. Stevo: send an email to production@chasejarvis.com to claim your prize and get that consult scheduled. Everyone else: thank you so much for entering!
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I can point to a handful of in-person meetings that changed the trajectory of my career in photography. It’s with that in mind that I’ll ask if you remember the time one photographer scored a private consultation with yours truly + $500 and free photo education?

Well, let’s you and me hang out. Given that a)I think I might have some insights to get you un-stuck in your career / review your portfolio / make some recommendations on approach to creativity and business; and b)the last giveaway was a hit; and c)it’s frickin Photo Week right now… we’re going in for round #2. Yep – I’m giving away another 60 minute 1:1 consultation with yours truly, along with $500 from Adorama, plus all of Photo Week from CreativeLive which is 6 days worth of photo instruction from many of the world’s top instructors. How to enter? Everything you need to know is right here …

HOW DO YOU WIN? Once again, we’re using our favorite widget app to collect all of your entries. It does a few things really well:
1. manages all entries into a completely secure database and properly randomizes a winner
2. gives you info about how much time is left in the giveaway / how many entries there are etc
3. allows you to earn extra entries by participating more deeply in the community (tweeting, sharing, reading posts, etc.)

WHAT THE WINNER GETS.1. A personal consult with Chase Jarvis. You know the drill. If you’re local to SEA or SF, we can do lunch or whatever. If you’re remote it’s a 60 minute Skype call, Google Hangout, or phone call with yours truly. We can talk about anything and everything under the sun — big ideas, portfolios, what your favorite lens is, how to start that business you’ve been meaning to start, etc. Or my favorite flavor gummy bear. You decide.

2. Gear.Adorama are being their usual badass selves and giving me $500 cash (gift card) toward anything on their site that I get to give to one of you. Ideal for helping you get that new lens, body, drone, or even sweet gear for mobile photography.

3. Education.CreativeLive is kicking in ALL of the classes from PhotoWeek — the world’s largest photo education event via best experts in photo & video education. If purchased separately, these courses would add up to more than $800 bucks.

To enter just fill in your info below and follow along. And note: this giveaway is live TODAY all the way through Sept 29th. Winner will be announced on Tuesday Sept 30 via my social feed and email.

Hi Friends. Hopefully you saw my #IceBucketChallenge video and donated or participated in the #ALS internet meme (and were able to keep sight of the real target of raising awareness + $$ for ALS!)

To be clear we were just goofing from a production standpoint, but since there was some cinematic playfulness and we used a bit of photo tech for my icy challenge, I got a bunch of questions / comments from readers asking me to detail our production. So here’s a quick breakdown, including approach, gear, setup, settings + video editing, complete with BTS photos and a final parting shot. Follow-up questions & comments welcome…
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Approach
First, since time and resources were limited we resolved to keep this shoot as low weight as possible. So even though we busted out some fun toys, the whole thing — concept, setup, shoot, edit, and post to the internet — took place in a matter of hours.

Other Gear
_12ft Black Backdrop
_20x25ft Black Visqueen
_10ft Ladder
_Water from the lake
_4x bags of Ice
***This was stuff we had on hand, except the ice which we got from a convenience store and the visqueen, which we picked up at a local hardware store.

Here’s a quick sketch and some photos of how we laid this all out, with the detailed play by play below.

The Details
_The main camera prepared for photos was a Nikon D4S with 24-70 2.8 rigged in a way it could be shot by yours truly using 3x PocketWizard Plus III, one in the camera set at Channel 1 (needs N10-ACC-D200 cable), one in hand @ Channel 1 as well, and one with the Broncolor Scoro pack @ Channel 2, the camera was shooting 9 frames per second, and the Scoro was able to deliver speed and power consistently.

_Video was shot using the GH4 for Slow Motion 96FPS at angle while GH3 was shot straight towards Chase.

_The “Bullet Cam” was a rig made using 10 GoPro’s affixed to 2x grip arms held by 2x light stands (similar to how we did in the Samsung campaign video) and then configured in a semi circle just below the video and still cameras. All of them were shooting video and were synced later with a clap! done prior to the action moment recorded. In post we selected one key action moment and grabbed a single frame from each only the same action frame were selected from the footage of them all for the final edit.

_A bucket of roughly 40 Liters of water was used with water from nearby Lake Union (so not to waste) and 4 bags of Ice (the first 2 melted rather quickly, so we re-upped with 2x more.)

_Lighting was composed of three lights for both photos and video. For video, 3 LED Panels at 100W Each, 2x behind and to my side for the Rim light / to backlight the water / define it off the black backdrop, and one at 45º angle medium/high in height on left of the subject for fill. And for photos we used 3 light positiioned very similarly to video lights to cut down on the variance in lighting schematic. We used 2 medium softboxes behind to the side for the rim light, and a beauty dish above me, centered (beauty is not the word I’d use in this case…). Strobes were powered using Broncolor A4S that delivered 9FPS consistently.

_For the set, we used 2x large light stands to hold up the 12ft Black backdrop, a 20x25ft Black Visqueen that covered almost the entire set’s ground to contain all the water, for that we raised the sides so the water would be kept inside.

Then we let ‘er rip, and you saw the results in motion. We pulled the edit together in Adobe Premier and posted to YouTube within a handful of hours, start to finish. Reminder the vid is here or embedded below to watch again / share

Quick edit of one of the still photos below. Thanks again. Hope you were able to donate and spread the word. Hit me with questions or comments below.

And again…

]]>http://blog.chasejarvis.com/blog/2014/09/behind-the-scenes-look-at-my-als-icebucketchallenge-shoot-complete-with-gear-details-photos/feed/74Happy to Take on Some Ice Water for the ALS #IceBucketChallengehttp://blog.chasejarvis.com/blog/2014/08/watch-chase-jarvis-als-ice-bucket-challenge-video/
http://blog.chasejarvis.com/blog/2014/08/watch-chase-jarvis-als-ice-bucket-challenge-video/#commentsThu, 28 Aug 2014 18:31:46 +0000http://blog.chasejarvis.com/blog/?p=28847

I know, I know! I’m two weeks late for the #ALS #icebucketchallenge…I hate being late for an internet meme, but this is obviously way more/bigger/important than a meme… In this case, as you know by now, the world is raising awareness and money for ALS research. I’ve donated to ALS for not hitting my 24hr mark… and it’s never too late for a good cause, so bring on the ice anyway, per the vid above.

I explain in more detail about my tardiness in the vid above, but want to thank everyone who nominated me. Lots of lovely people/folks/groups throughout the innerwebs (thanks to Adorama, Kai and DigitalRev, Brian, several on the CreativeLive crew, and many others that justifiably beat me up via Twitter. I hear ya

We banged out the video above and wrangled a few playful vid effects to keep it fun. And of course, I also get to nominate some folks to do this chilly challenge, so here they are below:

Lastly! I shot stills of my dousing. If you donate to ALS and share your receipt with me online in any way — even for donating a dollar — I’ll share with you the ridiculous image via a download or something so you can poke fun at me, privately or in public.

As always, if you have questions/comments on the video or anything for that matter… post em below. And forever feel free to hit me up on Twitter, Facebook, and G+.

I have lost a family member to this disease, so it’s extra close to me personally. I can’t overstate how phenomenal the response to the #IBC has been – I hope you’re interested in supporting awareness and research has been piqued.And please, if you can afford it — ice bucket or not — please visit the ALS Association website and make a donation. Thanks and #love.

Over the years I’ve kicked out a bunch of vids shooting from the skies on commercial gigs, like here, here, here and here for starters. But occasionally, on the heels of a commercial assignment based out of a particularly stunning location, I’ll treat myself to some heli time shooting my ongoing aerial fine art project (personal work with dose of adventure). In fact, I’ve documented these adventures before — like here in New Zealand. I even did a how-to shoot aerial photography thingie here from Belize… but truth be told, all this flying never gets old.

And so it stands to reason that I’m rolling out another bit of aerial photo porn today in hopes of bringing a little joy/beauty to your day AND of course celebrating a quick hit to a gorgeous little corner of Iceland. Please enjoy. As always, taking your questions and comments below, answering those that I can muster.

[And, lastly, before you eeeeeven dismiss this post/video and say “This is so outrageous, when will I ever get to shoot from a helicopter,” I’ll just say that every photographer who has ever shot from a chopper has said those same words at some point… only to find themselves at a future date pulling heavy G turns and shooting from a blue sky somewhere. You can probably even hitch a sightseeing ride for less that it costs to rent a lens for the weekend, so take it all with a grain of salt and enjoy. And, of course, a HUGE shoutout to my guy Big Chocolate for the beats.]

]]>http://blog.chasejarvis.com/blog/2014/08/aerial-landscape-photography-porn-iceland-style/feed/11312 Secrets for Unlocking Your Most Creative Workhttp://blog.chasejarvis.com/blog/2014/08/12-secrets-for-unlocking-your-most-creative-work/
http://blog.chasejarvis.com/blog/2014/08/12-secrets-for-unlocking-your-most-creative-work/#commentsWed, 20 Aug 2014 17:06:11 +0000http://blog.chasejarvis.com/blog/?p=28662A lot of my breakthrough creative thoughts come to me when least expected. I’ve talked about “finding creativity” and “creative inspiration” all over the damn place… on podcasts like this and this (twice for example) or given a keynote on it here at SWSW.

That said, I’ve also learned from an entire life in the trenches as an artist what DOESN’T contribute to them (abusing myself, bad head space, partying too much), but more importantly, what does… I’ve learned that creative inspiration is something that can be directly CULTIVATED by putting yourself in a fertile environment. So I’m going to let ‘em rip. Here’s MY personal recipe — my day to day list — of things, states, and activities for cultivating maximum creative inspiration… and I’m guessing it’s different (and more achievable) than you think it is…

1. Keep a Schedule
This one is super counter intuitive to most — and why I’m leading with it here… For nearly my entire life I thought that schedules were meant to keep my creative self DOWN… that a schedule was the devil. That you had to live a life like Jim Morrison from the Doors to find creative inspiration. Come to find out that doing what you can to keep a schedule is supremely helpful for your creative brain. And I don’t mean 9-5… but I do mean some semblance of a schedule. Taking photos every day, writing first thing every morning, headphones on and painting from midnight to 2am every day…whatever works for YOU is what I mean. But the more you can schedule worktime, the better. Science tells us this, but so does my own lifetime of experience. The funny part? To this day it’s still my biggest challenge.

2. Meditation
I spoke briefly about this with Austin Kleon on cjLIVE and with Tim Ferriss recently, but trust me: it’s a doozy. Every day, I put 20 minutes aside when I wake up in the morning and before dinner at night to sit quietly and just be still. I practice Transcendental Mediation (TM), but I’m not recommending a particular kind in this post here… I’m just saying that meditation works. It’s made the single biggest difference in my life’s ability to perform at a high level and run the kind of gnarly schedule that I run. What’s the effect? Clarity. My ideas are more clear than ever before. You’ve heard athletes like Michael Jordan talk about seeing the game around them develop seemingly in slow motion? Well that’s what happens to the chaos of a packed life when one meditates. This are infinitely more manageable, things are less prone to get me off my game — and … here’s the kicker… my creative thoughts come more freely. I find it 100x easier to get into that creative “flow state” I’ve talked about before and that science backs me on…

3. Get Plenty of Sleep
Like a lot of creative types, I’ve had a tendency in life to do a lot of my work late at night, or to forego sleep in favor of staying out or waking up early to get a head start on the day. I used to be proud of operating on 4 hours of sleep — and I did that for more than 10 years — with gusto. I thought it was my tool for getting ahead. But, while there’s no substitute for hard work, sleep is nearly just as effective. This is something I’ve learned very recently. Sleep is like the wonder drug. And I use it as such. In the same way I use (but don’t abuse) caffeine, when things start getting sloppy in my life, I go to sleep. Seriously. I will carve out a couple nights for 10 hours of sleep… and voila. I’m back on my creative game. (This is an other subject I touched on with Tim Ferriss on his podcast.)

4. Take Breaks During Your Day — and Take a Walk
It’s been shown scientifically that there is a link between talking walks and creative boosts, and I’ve found this to be true in my own life, too. Although TBCITOTWY, I occasionally take walks without my phone/camera & think about photographs that I would take (saying to myself “that’s a photograph, that’s a photograph” while imagining what scenes might look like if I shot them.) But it’s even more important for me to take a walk and do nothing but observe. Observe the light. Observe other people, observe the world. Walking is also a kind of kinetic meditation, without pressure of having to produce. Talk a walk.

5. Get Away
I try to take small steps far away from work as often as possible. I’ll hit up the family cabin for a night, take a road trip, get out on our little boat for a few hours, etc., as often as possible. Sure BIG travel counts… like getting away on vacation, but that’s not what I’m talking about here. I’m talking about just a few hours, or an overnight… something to get you some physical separation from your stressors. For example, I got the idea for the Seattle 100 portrait project while lying in my hammock (on a break from work – where I went home for lunch and to chill out). I got the idea for doing the Best Camera app while up at our family cabin on Camano Island. Get some separation if you can, even if just for a couple hours.

6. Read More Books
As mentioned above, I spend a crazy stupid amount of time on planes, so I got into this habit of reading a LOT about 10 years ago. And I haven’t stopped. I intend to publish a reading list soon, so I’ll avoid going deep on titles here. But the point is to read… Get inspiration from others. My favorite genres are artist biographies. Second favorite = deep dives on any topic that I’m fascinated with at the time. Whether that’s the history of the internet or the psychology of creativity. Third favorite? New school books on business, and connecting your work with your life in a meaningful way. (Business wasn’t innate to me – everything I know, I read about or learned the hard way). Oh… one more genre….books that my friends write. I’m fortunate to have a wealth of friends who best selling authors and writers of great books. Couple recent examples = David duChemin’s, Ryan Holiday’s, and Adam Braun’s most recent books. I’ve also listed several books before that will recharge your creativity. More to come on this topic in future posts….

7. Learn to Teach Yourself / Hack Your Learning / Learn OnlineIt’s no secret that I got my start by teaching myself how to do what I do, but to this day, I’m an avid proponent of self-learning. Learning is not passive. It’s insanely active. In truth, that was a big motivation for starting CreativeLive, then taking that even bigger, so that YOU can have the opportunity to teach yourself -while following along with the top teachers and “do’er’s” and a worldwide community all your own.

8. Visualize Success
One of the best ways to stay creatively pumped is to do some visualization. It doesn’t have to be rigorous. I can be like letting yourself daydream. But it just so happens I do this with intention. I like to actively Remember why I started and think of what you want the end product to look like. One of my recent successful gigs — a campaign shoot for Samsung — was a literal visualization that came to me in a recurring dream. I kept picturing what this image from my mind would look like in real life (as you see in the video) and by the end of the shoot we’d made it happen. The point isn’t really about creating your dreams, it’s about believing you can be successful at whatever you choose to imagine.

9. Immersion in Other Forms of Art
This is a big one: it’s crucial to get perspectives outside your chosen career/hobby/job/etc. This is one of my biggest “secrets” (but that I’ve been sharing for a decade.) Most of the things I applied to my own career that set me apart, came from thinking about / using influences from things outside of photography. To learn light? I took up oil painting. To learn how to shoot sports, I looked at fashion. And the list is a mile long… One of the reasons doing #cjLIVE is so essential to me is that I get so much interdisciplinary input. I’ve had musicians, artists, designers, writers, speakers, travelers, entrepreneurs, business titans, and more — all sitting right on my couch to chat for an hour or more at a time. These are my friends. This is where I get my inspiration. Talking to people in other disciplines informs my art, my work, and my side projects. Not only that, but it inspires me to do things outside of my comfort zone… and things that are completely unexpected in MY profession. It helps me be different, not better.

10. Make Things Every Day
Science says it, and I experience it. When I’m making things everyday — whether it’s writing or taking a photo or doing some — ANY creative craft… your brain pushes into new neural pathways. Quite literally creativity creates more creativity. The rote act of doing your craft — or ANY craft — is a primer for more creative mojo. Do not underestimate this. (My keynote on that topic here.)

11. Find Adventure
Put simply, I live in 2 modes: the adventure mode and the quiet mode. Adventure — whether that’s travel or putting myself in danger, or “living large” or whatever floats your boat… Putting yourself in the mode where you’re being stimulated and taking information IN is a critical mode for me. And I’d be it will be for you. Get into adventures. And…. then see #12.

12. Find Quiet
In contrast to #11 above, great ideas do NOT come in the heat of battle. Science says this as does my own personal experience. When you’re out in the world seeking inspiration and adventure, you’re most certainly “getting ideas.” But it’s actually the synthesis of the inspiration and ideas of others that makes the real difference in what you OR your ideas can become happens in synthesis. It’s the connecting of ideas into new ones where your greatest accelerants will happen. And this requires some calm after the storm. It requires quiet. It’s why your best ideas happen in the shower or before bed or when you wake early… because there’s less noise in your world at that moment. Find more time like that. Trust me.

]]>http://blog.chasejarvis.com/blog/2014/08/12-secrets-for-unlocking-your-most-creative-work/feed/136Everything You Weren’t Taught About Taking Photos: How to Make an Image While Making Tough Decisions on Set (Amidst the Drama of it All)http://blog.chasejarvis.com/blog/2014/08/everything-you-werent-taught-about-taking-photos-how-to-make-an-image-while-making-tough-decisions-on-set/
http://blog.chasejarvis.com/blog/2014/08/everything-you-werent-taught-about-taking-photos-how-to-make-an-image-while-making-tough-decisions-on-set/#commentsTue, 05 Aug 2014 17:05:36 +0000http://blog.chasejarvis.com/blog/?p=28708Background Story.
This image was a part of a global campaign — print, OOH and digital – for Naked Juice in 2011. This image was one image in a series of 6 ads where the goal was to achieve what we were calling “the Naked Lens” — a superwarm, hard backlit look, complete with lens flare and jeweled tones throughout the image. While it might be an overused look these days — lens flares hadn’t yet hitting the mainstream for advertising. The idea was that this look, when combined across all Naked’s imagery, could be an “own-able” look for Naked. You can see a few other images from that campaign here or here on the agency’s site to get the gist of them together.

But I can already hear you — “so what’s so special about this shot, Chase? It’s just a guy walking down the beach with a surfboard!” Fair point, but ironically I chose this image specifically for that point. One of the most popular questions I get asked about photography is… “what’s it like to do X, or shoot with Y, in crazy location Z?” By and large people want to hear the sexy war stories of the profession — and there are plenty. BUT in high-end, broad reach advertising work you’re rarely asked to shoot the sexy or the impossible. More often you’re asked to shoot the “normal” under some unique circumstances… be those circumstances a special lighting situation, a special location, during a special type of weather, etc… and with 100 smart people (agency, client, everybody else under the sun) looking over your shoulder all the while — each with their own opinion on the best way to do something. That was the case for this image, and that’s why I thought it a more worthy share than another sexywar story. IMHO it might be a less sexy story, but it’s a better read and ultimately more valuable for takeaways because it’s more real than most of the shiz you’ll read.

Setup
Sometimes even the simple images are hard to get. We were setup on location in Malibu at a beach park we’d permitted after scouting the week before. Key challenge #1 = the weather was NOT good. Overcast, cold, with fog and broken clouds. Certainly no one expects you to control the weather and contracts are written with “weather days” etc, but that’s my point. It DEFINITELY contributes to the mood on set — to everyones mood. All of which not ideal when your #1 objective is a warm, backlit sun flare. To add some complications in there, it was our last shot to get, we’d nailed the previous 5 shooting in LA over the past week. There was a fair pressure to get it done… budget pressure. Nobody likes cost overages and you can imagine the costs of 30+ people staying for another day — client, agency, wardrobe, styling, art department, motorhomes, cancellation fees, etc etc. There was at least another $50 – $100,000 on the line if we didn’t get the shot.

We were all setup several hours early, and a lot of less experienced people on set (client’s do these shoots once or twice a year, the agencies do them a few more, whereas we photographers literally live in this stuff) and the people with the purse strings are getting fidgety. [“Why are we even here? It’s cloudy weather! Shouldn’t we scramble to another location and try to poach the shot down in Venice? My phone says its sunny down there.”]

ENTER: 3 THINGS…1. Patience. Scrambling 30 people to a new location that “might” be sunny, to shoot without a permit, is NOT a good idea. Parking alone is a nightmare, let alone all the rest. Besides risking getting shut down from the cops, nobody likes a scramble. Moreover, there is a phenomenon that you should be familiar with… it’s the phenomenon that quite frequently bites people in the ass: chasing light, i.e. “you can see it’s sunny right over there.” This sometimes plays in your favor with a smaller crew and a consistent weather pattern, but we had neither of those.

2. Sun Seeker App. Now I’m in no way affiliated with this $10 Sun Seeker app (and I’ve written about it before), but I use it every day of every outdoor photo shoot I’m on. In short, it’s a must have — it gives you the exact location of the sun in the sky at any given time. In this particular situation, when we’d scouted the location earlier we’d identified that our scene would be backlit the right amount for about 45 minutes before the sun went behind this hill just to the northwest of the beach we were on. BUT BUT BUT given the situation at hand I could tell that there were some breaks in the cloud happening right in the zone where the sun was going to be in an hour… and that — if things worked out perfectly — we might get a few minutes of sun just before it went behind the hill overlooking the beach (that you can see in the background of the image).

3. Making the Tough Call. They say that making hard calls in photography “goes with the pay grade.” But let’s be clear: most of the calls you must make on set — to shoot or not to shoot, to stay or move, to use this lens or that one, this model or that, this camera or that, do this or that or don’t — are based on gut and experience, and all of your gut and experience were cultivated with imperfect data. It’s a feeling combined with experience. Well, that’s what went down here. I had a strong hunch we’d get a minute or two of direct sun beneath the clouds and above the horizon, just right before it dipped away. I’d seen it happen 100 times, and that experience coupled withe the technology that told me where the sun was going to be AND the patience to always wait — to always give yourself a chance (see this post) to make the shot.

So, that’s what we did here. Amidst the voices from client and bystanders and agency and etc., I held the cast and crew at the location… and it worked. The sun turned on like a light switch, burning brightly and warmly for exactly 2 minutes. Not 20 minutes, not 2 hours. 2 minutes. But because we were ready (against everyone else’s desire… “its so cloudy its NEVER going to happen…”) we nailed the shot in a 2 minute window.

Why I chose these settings
I needed the aperture wide open to get the light flare as I wanted it and I needed to be 1000% sure to freeze an action (at least 1/1000) and so that roughly dictated my ISO at 800 given the conditions.

Direction
In this case, my direction to the model was much more complex than you might think. First of all, it was very cold — probably in the 50’s and windy, so keeping him warm in between practice run thru’s was a must — can’t have a surfer all goose-bumped out. Second, in order to put him in the right spot on the horizon and in our frame he had to walk in a very unnatural part of the trail, while looking up and keeping a natural expression… no smiles, just contentment. So, the directions weren’t easy, but that’s what makes a pro model a pro. Seriously. Walk “normally” on this root-covered area just off the path with a perfect facial expression, carrying this surf board exactly this way, don’t look where you’re walking, and god forbid don’t look like you’re cold even though you’re wearing no clothes and it’s 50 degrees and windy as hell… aaaaaand now do that 50 times in 2 minutes while I unload 1,000 frames or so. THAT was the direction. #RequiredToGetTheShot

Post Production
In Photoshop we didn’t do all that much. Primarily some light balance between the hot sun and the darker elements (greens, etc.) in the front. The Nikon has great dynamic range, but we focused mostly on tweaking the balance between the brightest bits of the image and the darkest. We warmed it up a tad, we amplified the lens flare and we went a hair more to the jewel side of the tones in the image color to match the creative brief and the other images in the campaign. And Voila!

So there you have it. Feel free to hit me up on Twitter and Fbook with any questions. If you dig this blog post, I only share one of these every so often here… BUT I share one of these case studies every other week to my email list, with a complete breakdown of ever bit of the image making process. If you want to join the thousands of people who receive these special emails, do so on this form here. I will never spam you or share your info. #Respect.